Tag: holiday ales

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The Firkin for December 2024

I am not inclined to doom and dread when it comes to the New Year. Perhaps because the bar of past years is not the highest of hurdles.

But I do feel mighty trepidatious about our breweries in Los Angeles and this country overall. Zooming out, it is clear that most voting Americans have no idea of the deleterious effects of tariffs and how they are best used in tiny, targeted doses. It is also clear that the ultra religious right cannot stay in church and rather enjoy pushing their twisted morality onto anyone and alcohol is one of their targets.

On a local scale, breweries here are closing or are in trouble. Will that balance out naturally with the remaining breweries getting the dollars? Perhaps. And I do think that turnkey breweries and cheaper kit may lead to a new set of exciting beer but that may not come to fruition until 2026. Until then, we may be looking at a lot of light lagers as draws since slushies and seltzers are fading fast.

The one thing that I will be tracking in 2025 are beer prices. I routinely purchase mixed 4-packs and I used to be able to get them at the $20 mark but in the last half of the year it has been more $24 to $25 and I am looking at barrel-aged beer prices with a sharp eye and substitute a hoppy pils for them. And I don’t even look at big bottles.

However this year turns out, I hope you all have a great beer year and I urge you to visit local and also travel to beer. It might make a difference.

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Best Beers of December 2024

Some months, the best of is better than others. This month, I had three beers that just bowled me over. And they were not one style, they were all over the spectrum. I will go in order of drinking them and not rank since they are within a hair of each other.

First was the 2024 version of Topa Topa Brewing’s Howler DIPA. No ordinary hop attack, this is a coffee DIPA with beans from Dune Coffee and it was a two-pronged attack of coffee and hops in equal measure.

Second is a three way collaboration from Brewyard Beer Co., Ambitious Ales and Five Point Five Brewing. The beer is a fruited pastry beer. No stout, no sour just a Filipino driven ode to JolliBee named Jolli beer and it was spot on. Crust and mango combined.

Finally, Long Beach Beer Lab had an excellent winter ale named Amburana for the wood the beer was aged in. Spiced up with cinnamon and hearty without being overly heavy. A great example of a winter warmer.

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Sean Suggests for December 2024

Collaborations x 3 this month as we travel around the Golden State from San Diego to Los Angeles to Sacramento via new hops and old recipes.

MacLeod / Tomm Carroll Oat Malt Stout – 4.6% – “this sub-style, which was made with malted oats (along with malted barley), not oat flakes or oatmeal, was first brewed by Maclay & Co., LTD of Alloa, Scotland around 1894.”

Smog City / Pizza Port PC Load Letter White IPA – 6.5% – “Packed with a rock-solid punch of grapefruit and zesty yuzu, juicy hits of peach and apricot, and a smooth herbal backbone, it’s the ultimate cure for a case of the Mondays.”

Urban Roots / Societe Fun Fare IPA – 7.1% – “stacked with Krush, Krush Cryo, Krush Dynaboost, Citra, and Nectaron hops, so expect your taste buds to be flying first class.”

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Christmas Beer Time – Day 12

Let’s get back within my driving radius with holiday beers from SoCal for a couple days. First is the Winter Ale from Smog City Brewing.

“A bold blend of fall-inspired flavors awaits: juniper and pine top notes, sweet caramel and toffee aromas, and a bright, citrusy spruce finish.

Crafted with hand-crushed juniper berries, spruce tips, and a complex layer of crystal malts, this winter warmer is perfect for cozy fireside sips or pairing with your holiday feasts!”

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Christmas Beer Time – Day 9

Up in Seattle, Cloudburst Brewing has ventured into the gap of the missing Anchor Steam Our Special Ale with their own Distinctive Holiday Ale.

“We get that a spiced winter warmer is not an easy sell (LIKE, PLEASE BUY THIS BEER) but that version was essentially canonized. It was always rich in malt and interesting in flavor – often spiced, but never with the same combination – and packaged in an iconic bottle (or magnum) with a new label every year. If that beer was to no longer exist…well, what does that say about…um…the storied winter seasonal beer market? And thus, we put it upon ourselves to create a similar rendition, filling that glaring, singular hole on the shelf at your favorite bottle shop. A beer of malts, hops, spices, joy and cheer.”

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Holiday Season 2023 – Day 2 – Long Nights from Alaro Brewing

One of the standouts from this year’s trip to the CCBA Conference was Alaro Brewing. I adore their labels and the fact that they package their beer in these weird things called bottles. Including Long Nights…

“Winter brings short days, long nights and our Cold IPA! This special IPA is made using an ale yeast fermented slowly at cold temperatures and is made with high-quality malts for a soft mouthfeel complimented by a juicy hop bill of Citra, BRU-1 & Sultana for layers of citrus, pineapple & topical melon. The cold fermentation creates a light and clean mouthfeel that is perfect to showcase all these amazing hops!”

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Holiday Season 2023 – Day 1 – Winter Ritual from Hopworks Brewery

Each year, from the day after Thanksgiving to the day before Christmas, one of my two daily posts will showcase a different holiday seasonal. So it is appropriate to start with a beer from Hopworks Brewery in Portland, Oregon.

“This Cold IPA is light and crisp. Seamlessly blurring the line between a refreshing lager and a bright, aromatic IPA. Notes of pine sap, lemon zest, and grapefruit with a dry, crackery finish.”